Hair Porosity HELP

My hair sunk to the bottom of the water within at least 30 seconds or so I'd say but it's strange because my hair is actually moisturized it feels soft all the time, it's clean and my naked hair(tee hee nekkid) is soft also I have started ACV treatments because my hair is pretty thick and I don't want to over do it with protein treatmens. I just don't know did I do the test wrong should I DT more, I have about an inch of hair since my big chop in August 10th I have 4a hair does that matter? I'm not going for curl definition or looks I just want it happy and healthy I don't know what's up I was sure I was doing everything right, should I had done it on naked hair as in freshly shampooed and clarified?
I co wash once a week pre poo,shampoo,then deep condition once a week moisturize twice a day everyday and have begun teasing with the idea of bagging my hair every other day is it to much moisture, not enough? I don't use cones,petrolatum,mineral oils or any of the bad hair ingredients I keep my hair on a great diet, my own personal diet is fine, so what's up?

I take care of my hair well too and my hair always sinks to the bottom so I don't really know what the test is supposed to tell you about the health of your hair. Mine is in great shape but according to the strand test, I fail. Lol. I'm interested to hear what the other ladies have to say about this one.

Your hair may be covered in moisture so it is heavy and sinks. Yes do it on naked hair

The porousness (is that even a word?) could just be apart of your natural texture- like all the other descriptors we have for hair; sparse,dense, fine, coarse, then, less conventional descriptions; wispy vs.wiry, crinkly vs.coily and porous. I think that can just be how it is naturally, even in optimal health. My hair is certainly porous, and you know how I know? You know how all my friends know? My hair smells like whatever I've been cooking! lol

Lysheba89
Love your hair! What curl pattern do you have and how much growth is that (how long been growing out hair natural).

and I love that song!!

Thanks krys315! You've got serious hair bling going on yourself (more commonly referred to as "shine" lol) !

As for my curl pattern, girl, I have no idea sometimes. You are probably more qualified to tell me. Sometimes I just want to put up pictures of my hair wet and dry, totally un-manipulated, and let you guys have at it; let everyone vote and come to consensus about what/how my hair is!

The outer layer of hair allover my head is mostly straggly medium size strands of 3c, broken wisps of hair-more crimpy than curly.
Hair on my temples and around my ears are finer strands of oilier 3c, curls larger than a pencil.
Crown is definitely coarse, hair strand is thick-easily seen and felt, 4a sized coils(more like tiny s waves).
Back-center/sides, thinner strands of 4a or 4b, much less curl clumping, more fluff and fuzz. the most shrinkage.

All of that is a bunch of big "I think"s.I feel like I may be confusing terminology.

Also, I've been natural virtually my whole life, I've only gotten 2 relaxers in my life and that was when I was 9 and again when I was 10. I had hairdressers who refused to do my hair without one, and me and my mom were in a hurry for some occasion.

However, just because I didn't have relaxers doesn't mean my hair was healthy. I had really bad habits, I used terrible products -do you remember jam?!?!?!?! And I had my hair straightened with those really hot marcel irons all the time.

It wasn't until late junior year (about 4-5 years ago) that I started to wean my self off of heat and started to look for better products, and only until I got to college (3 years ago)that I made it a priority in my life. [b]

Sorry, that was alot! I would feel a lot better if krys315 or any of you ladies responded with an equally long and indulgent response about yourselves! lol

There are a couple of ways to test porosity. One way is the float test. The other is the tactile/feel testThe one I prefer is to feel a strand of hair from four sections. These sections are the nape, temple, front hairline & crown. Take a strand from each of those areas. Hold the hair taut and feel the strand from end to scalp. If it feels rough, dense and hard your cuticles are compact and your hair is resistant. If it feels rough, it is porous. If it feels very rough, dry or brittle, your hair is overly porous.

What does all this mean? Overly porous/high hair is likely damaged. Damage can come for heat, poor hair care, etc. Overly porous hair has lifted cuticles. The lifted cuticles allow moisture to escape easily. It is also important to seal in moisture with oil and/or butter since it typically dries fast. Acidic products may help so may protein. Acidic or porosity control products can help. Acid can close the cuticles along with cold water as final rinse. Protein can fill in the gaps.

Porous/normal porosity hair allow moisture to enter and leave at an appropriate rate.

Resistant/low porosity hair has dense cuticles that do not allow water to penetrate it. This is typically found on virgin hair (never processed).

Great sites to visit are http://www.hairfinder.com/hairquestions/hairporosity.htm and http://www.livecurlylivefree.com/curly%20hair%20basics.htm.

Hope this helps

Thank you for the links. Is it possible to have both low and normal porosity hair. The hair on the sides of my head seem to be low porosity where the front, top and back seem to have a normal porosity.

Is there a way to correct the porosity with out de-normalizing the other parts?
(I am confused)

curlya wrote:Thank you for the links. Is it possible to have both low and normal porosity hair. The hair on the sides of my head seem to be low porosity where the front, top and back seem to have a normal porosity.

Is there a way to correct the porosity with out de-normalizing the other parts?
(I am confused)

First, beautiful avatar.

Yes, it is possible to have both on the same head. I have normal and overly. My temples are overly porous while the rest of my hair, as far as I can tell has normal porosity. I tend to apply more heavy products on temple and seal with butter or heavier oil. For the other areas, I can just use a leave in and coconut oil (lighter oil that penetrates the hair's shaft).

@ ChrsLvsBks - Thank you
And I will keep that in mind when I am styling my hair. I'm so glad this topic came up. I just thought it was the different hair types on my head that was causing it to 'feel' differently. I did not realize the porosity could cause to to feel the way it was.